Bruce Pearl shares positive takeaways from USC loss

Auburn suffered its second loss of the season on the road to the USC Trojans 74-71 Sunday. Before traveling 2,140 miles back home from Los Angeles, head coach Bruce Pearl decided to look at the positives from the loss rather than the negative in what was a tightly contested matchup.

“I thought we communicated well. I thought the coaches had good preparation this week with a good game plan,” Pearl said after the loss. “I think we executed for the most part and we played a lot better. … I thought we executed better, we got some really good looks. We rebounded better, we were more physical. We were a little bit more bought in on the game plan. I thought the kids’ attitudes on the bench were great, so that was extremely positive.”

One of Pearl’s biggest gripes with Sunday’s performance lies in turnover accountability. Auburn turned the ball over 23 times and fouled USC a total of 25 times. Add in the foul trouble and missed free throws, and the Tigers were destined to travel back across the country with a loss.

Still, Pearl believes his team has made strides since they lost to the Memphis Tigers earlier in the month.

“I’m pleased with this team right now if we can continue to grow,” Pearl said. With the amount of talent and potential on Auburn’s roster this season, their growth is expected to be fast and furious once SEC play begins in the coming weeks.

Now having lost two of its last three after beginning the season 8-0, Auburn will have to turn right around and head back to the west coast for their final non-conference game of the early season against the formidable Washington Huskies. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET live on the Pac-12 Network.